Dendy Cinema Pty Ltd has paid a $19,800 penalty following an infringement notice issued by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for allegedly failing to clearly disclose the full ticket price during its online sales process.
The ACCC alleges that Dendy breached Australian Consumer Law by not prominently displaying the total price of tickets, including mandatory booking fees, early in the purchase process.
Instead, the total price was only revealed to customers at the final stages of an online booking, a practice commonly referred to as “drip pricing.”
Transparency concerns in digital pricing
According to the ACCC, Dendy’s online ticketing interface displayed a partial price upfront, excluding a per-ticket booking fee that could not be avoided.
This approach, the regulator says, potentially misled consumers and reduced their ability to make informed decisions.
“Businesses must be upfront about the total minimum quantifiable price of a product or service,” said ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe.
“By initially only displaying part of the total price for a movie ticket, Dendy has reduced the ability of consumers to make an informed purchasing decision.”
Lowe added that drip pricing can lead to consumers committing to purchases they may have reconsidered if full costs had been made clear earlier in the process.
What is ‘drip pricing’?
The ACCC describes ‘drip pricing’ as a practice where the advertised price at the beginning of an online transaction does not include additional mandatory charges, such as booking or service fees, which are only revealed later in the process.
This approach can lead consumers to pay more than they originally expected.
Under Australian Consumer Law, businesses are required to clearly disclose all applicable fees, including when they will apply, at the outset of the purchasing process.
Mandatory or unavoidable fees must be included in the initial price or disclosed prominently to avoid breaching transparency requirements.
The ACCC defines the “total minimum quantifiable price” as the lowest cost a consumer can be charged, inclusive of mandatory or pre-selected fees, known at the time the price is first stated.
Businesses that fail to meet this standard risk financial penalties and reputational impact.
Industry-wide implications for cinema and ticketing sectors
The ACCC confirmed it is examining online pricing practices across the cinema industry to determine whether similar non-compliance is occurring, particularly in relation to per-ticket booking fees.
Businesses that operate in the entertainment, event ticketing, and e-commerce spaces are being encouraged to review their current practices.
“We encourage all businesses to review their online pricing models to ensure they comply with legal obligations, including prominently disclosing the total price, upfront and in advertising, at the earliest point in the transaction,” Lowe said.
Dendy operates 52 cinema screens across six venues in New South Wales, Queensland, and the ACT.